Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Covid-19 and illiteracy
As country is going through the crucial time and easing lockdown is compulsion for government to let poor section of society at least to earn their livelihood as well as to let the country’s economic wheel move. Therefore, it is state’s responsibility to ensure that public is adhering to the SOPs, in the backdrop that we, as a nation, have failed to exercise this responsibility as sensible citizens. What is even more surprising is public apprehension about the pandemic as a myth.
It is said that if you want to destroy any nation, you must first destroy its education. Ultimately, it is illiteracy the prime factor behind this behaviour. According to the UNESCO report 2020, the literacy rate of Pakistan, as compared to other countries, is extremely low and whatever educational quality we have is still substandard. All the same, in this scenario expecting from public to abide by SOP’s is squarely utopian task.
Therefore, I request policy makers to make education on top priority and what is more important for today to the country is quality and indiscriminate education to the public irrespective of class, caste, creed, religion, ethnicity and race. Nelson Mandela truly said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
SOHAIL AHMED SOOMRO
Sukkur
Sale of medicines
This is with reference to the news (May 14) from Lahore, saying that medicines were being put up for sale in the black market in collusion with the health authorities. This pitiful scenario is in fashion all over the country. Under a specific plan, drugs are made to pass from sight, run short in supply, while at the same time specific sites are chosen, where those medicines are sold at very high prices. Eventually, the interests are shared by the pharmaceutical companies and the authorities.
Another strategy employed is that low-cost essential drugs as well as those which are life-saving, are not on sale in the market while same drugs of a different brand available are very expensive and irrational. To quote some examples, Dexamethasone is not available in many towns or is scarcely available after it is championed as the first Covid-19 drug that saves lives. Where available, it is sold at a price of Rs 1200 per injection instead of Rs 177 per injection. Similarly Hydrocortisone, previously available at a price of Rs 85 to 127 per injection, is not available at all.
Instead, Hydrocort is being aggressively sold at the price of Rs 150 to 180 per injection. This awful situation exists in respect of a large number of drugs. The Health Ministry maintains a separate department of drugs under an Executive Director. Impotence has become the quality of this department. The high ranking officials of this department are known to be a part in the company of cash rich and well built pharmaceutical industry and are often attending their events. They are not concerned with the conditions of the poor people of Pakistan. It is requested that the President may kindly look into the matter.
ABDULLAH BIN NAWAZ
Islamabad
Aga Khan Hospital’s emergency
It has generally been observed that the very junior and inexperienced doctors attend to patients requiring emergent medical treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. Due to this practice, life of the emergent patients always remain at risk as the expert doctors remain unavailable at the time of the entry of emergent patients.
This has happened once in the case of my wife too, to whom I rushed her to the Agha Khan Hospital some three years back. On the surface examination, the junior male doctor informed me that there was nothing serious in the case and the pain had occurred due to the improper indigestion of food. He, accordingly, prescribed some pain killers for my wife in case the pain occurred later. But, the same pain occurred after one month where again we rushed to the same hospital. On the day, I requested the visiting doctor for conducting the necessary ultrasound for knowing exactly the cause of the repetitive pain. It was only after an ultrasound that we came to know that it was actually the creation of small stones in the gallbladder that my wife was feeling pain with intermittent breaks of days/months.
So, my request to the management of the Agha Khan Hospital would be not to allow junior, inexperienced and house-job doctors to attend to any emergent case, as this may turn into a serious risk of endangering the patient’s life by not diagnosing and treating him/her properly at the hands of these inexperienced doctors. Moreover, the emergency patients have to wait for hours in the waiting area of the emergency section to be actually admitted onto the bed of the section. This also needs to be seen by the Agha Khan Hospital management.
ABDUL SAMAD SAMO
Karachi
Early salary disbursement
Government servants’ salary has proved to be a leading victim for national financial adjustment for the policy-makers. Even though, they are the highest payer of direct taxation to national exchequer. Salary structure of public servant is not hidden to anyone. Managing expenditures in this era pandemic and especially when inflation rate is in two-figure is itself a challenging task.
Moreover, government’s decision to stagnate public servant’s salary in the budget 2020-21 has further added to their sufferings. However, they have now hardly enough salary to become hand to mouth, gone were those days when savings were also kept out from salary beside all expenditures. Similarly, government decision to disburse early salary to public servants before Eid was undoubtedly good decision to go for, but this early disbursal of salary has created budget imbalance in their expenditures.
Therefore, I request higher authorities to pay out salaries to the public servantsearlier before the end of this month so that we can stabilize budget deficit and I also request higher authorities to revisit the decision related to public servant’s salaries for the budget 2020-21 however there should be at least 10 pc growth in salaries.
SOHAIL AHMED SOOMRO
Sukkur
